


Dungeons

by Kale-y (PechoraFlow)



Series: Promptober 2020 [5]
Category: Original Work
Genre: Basically gender swapped Sleeping Beauty but the dragon is sassy, F/M, Fantasy, Gen, Whump
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-10-05
Updated: 2020-10-05
Packaged: 2021-03-08 04:33:32
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,578
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26829670
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/PechoraFlow/pseuds/Kale-y
Summary: Audeen has finally found Theo, but the real culprit behind his kidnapping takes her by surprise...---Prompt: Dark
Series: Promptober 2020 [5]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1947931





	Dungeons

**Author's Note:**

> The following scenes take place just before the climax of the story.
> 
> Alrighty, characters:
> 
> Audeen - Captain of the Royal Guard, also a princess and second in line for the throne.  
> Wisp - "Fieri", aka shapeshifter. Audeen rescued him from a traveling freak show early in her adventure.  
> Clover - three-inch tall sprite who had his wings removed by bandits.  
> Theodore - Audeen's betrothed, heir to the throne of Evergrey.  
> Rupert - military genius, Theo's younger brother, and second in line for the throne.  
> Civak - dragonmaster, kidnapped Theodore at the beginning of the story.

Audeen crept through the rotted tunnels of what was once the stronghold of malice incarnate, her armor glinting dimly in what little sunlight made it past the thick clouds above and through the cracks in the ceiling. No doubt about it - if some army were to try and defend themselves in here, either the opposing army would break down the walls, or the stones themselves would collapse around the defenders.

Wisp followed along behind her, so silent that he was almost invisible. He maintained his usual tall, lanky form for the moment, but, once Audeen looked close enough, she could see that his hands were a bit more claw-like than they should be, and his shoulders were built with more muscle than usual.

They walked along, never speaking to each other for fear of being heard - though Audeen did catch Wisp looking to her for some form of reassurance from time to time. She would respond with a head nod, or maybe a small smile, and then turn back to her path, trying not to make more noise in her armor than absolutely necessary.

Finally, the two came to an open doorway. She motioned for Wisp to stop behind her.

When she peered around the corner, she lost all train of thought. There, on the far side of a large room crowded with overturned tables and benches, a long table had been placed upright. On it laid a pale, unmoving figure, dressed in once-royal grey that had been dirtied and stained over time.

She nearly forgot where she was. If it wasn’t for Wisp’s hand in hers, she might have run forward without a second thought. Instead, she carefully looked around, scanning her surroundings for traps and enemies. Seeing none, she kept her stance low and hurried over to what she guessed used to be a dining table of some sort.

“Audeen,” Wisp whispered, his eyes settling on the figure as they drew closer. The princess reached the table, her worst fears becoming a reality.

Was she too late?

The figure remained still, even when she grabbed his hand. “Theo,” she said, keeping her voice low and her emotions in check. "Theo, can you hear me?”

No response. The porcelain features of the kidnapped prince stayed statuesque. She pressed two fingers against his throat, feeling for a pulse...

There! It was faint, but unmistakable. He wasn’t dead. Her shoulders sagged in relief, and she allowed herself a small smile. It disappeared in an instant; they still had to escape unharmed, and find Clover - all preferably without getting caught.

Slaying a Goliath would have been easier.

“Audeen, look at these.” The princess’s attention was directed towards her companion, who pointed at their surroundings. She had been so focused on potential threats and the prince that she hadn’t noticed the details of the environment. Vials littered the tabletops, stacked and toppled over parchment that seemed so old, Audeen was afraid to touch it for fear that it may crumble. Wisp apparently had no such fear.

He came over to her, parchment in hand, and pointed at some block of text. “This is dragon tongue,” Wisp explained. “Very few humans can read it fluently. It looks like a recipe...I think. I’m not sure-”

“A recipe for what?” Audeen cut him off. If he got started on his disclaimers, they would be here well into the night.

Wisp seemed to take the hint and his cheeks became briefly dusted with rouge. “It, well, it seems like it could be a poison.”

Audeen’s blood ran cold. “Poison? _What for?”_

“I-I don’t know,” Wisp hurried, Audeen’s anxious tone infecting him in a blink. “I can’t read more than a few words in dragon tongue, and that’s only because I am part Fieri-”

Audeen pushed a hand over Wisp’s mouth and he fell silent. They waited for a few moments until a faded sound grew loud enough for them to realize that what they were hearing was the sound of footsteps, accompanied by the murmurs of chatter. Thinking quickly, she pushed Wisp underneath the table that Theo was resting on, pausing only briefly before following him under.

She ducked not a second too soon. As soon as she was out of sight, two people rounded a corner, and their conversation became clear.

“-simpler to kill him here-”

“He’s my brother, Civak. I know you have _some_ sense of familial loyalty. Besides, all I need is for him to be out of my way, and your Diu Dormium potion will work fine for that.”

Booted feet - one hard-soled set, one soft-soled set - stopped at the edge of the table. Wisp glanced up at Audeen, unsure of what action to take. She motioned for him to stay quiet.

"Just a drop every month? Are you sure?”

“Yes.”

“I’m just checking. I don’t want him suddenly waking up one day and ruining everything."

“He will not.”

“Oh? And how can you be so sure? Do you have a contingency plan?”

“I also gave him Mors Decem. He will not wake for at least ten years - maybe more.”

“You, my friend, are a true genius. I knew I could always count on you to have my back."

“I am not your friend. Do not get so familiar with me, prince. I have fulfilled my half of the deal-”

“Almost. And that’s _Crown_ Prince, now.”

Wisp and Audeen exchanged a look. She recognized that voice...

But no. It couldn’t be him. He had set out with them on the journey to _rescue_ Theo, just a fortnight ago. She had known him since they were _children_ -

“Civak. Give me a moment alone with my brother.”

Audeen thought she had imagined him saying it before, but there was no mistaking it this time. One of the two men was Rupert himself.

The other man left the room, turning on his heel to walk back from whence he came.

Rupert walked around the table, his clopping footsteps echoing about the ruins of the hall. Audeen’s hand tightened around the hilt of her sword. She would have burst out from her hiding spot at that moment, had Wisp not grabbed her wrist, frantically shaking his head.

“Mother told me she feared that you were dead,” Rupert said. Every word that passed his lips deepened the toxic, boiling hatred now rising in Audeen’s gut. Her hands shook from how tightly her fists were clenched. “She’s probably beside herself, but I’ll take your place. The kingdom was always better in my care, anyway."

 _That backstabbing, traitorous leech-_ Wisp grabbed her shoulder as well, trying to keep her in place. She had always been known for her levelheadedness and her cool demeanor, but now? After learning that all of her sacrifices, the constant fear that had clung to her of Theo being dead, and the injuries to her physical self and her honor were caused by some... some... _cockroach’s_ sense of entitlement, she found that her trained façade was not as strong as rumors said it was.

“You will be kept alive, laying hour upon hour in some remote room that eventually we’ll forget about, with no one keeping you company or even stopping by to say hello. It’s what you deserve.”

Audeen’s emotions snapped. In one smooth motion, she glided out from under the table and lunged for Rupert, his previously smug expression turning to one of horror as the dame’s armored gauntlet gripped his throat.

Audeen kept her face expressionless, but she could feel her arms trembling with rage. “Rupert. So nice to bump into you.”

“Pleasure, Audeen,” he rasped, trying to escape from her iron hold. “I was just about to bring my brother back home - I’m glad I won’t have to carry him out alone.”

“You think I’m deaf,” Audeen observed, her fingers tightening their hold. Rupert struggled for air.

“Audeen, please," he hissed. “We’re friends-”

“Being friends with you would be an insult to my honor,” she spat.

Rupert clawed at her armor, but she did not budge. “I can get you anything that you want! Evergrey is the wealthiest of the five kingdoms-”

Audeen’s stare hardened into a nightmarish scowl and Rupert fell silent.

“You are keeping your brother on the brink of death for your own pursuits,” she snarled. “I cannot think of a more cowardly way to seize the throne. If you wanted the power, you should have challenged him before the coronation rights, according to tradition.”

“Shouldn’t the king be someone who can protect himself?” Rupert said.

“You’re not living up to that standard right now, Rupert,” Audeen pointed out, her grip tightening.

“Release him.”

Audeen turned at the sound of the new voice just in time to see a jet of fire aimed at her head. She dropped Rupert, dodging the sudden onslaught of heat and leaping to safety. Beside her, Wisp shifted into the form of a large black bear, crouching into a ready stance.

A familiar man stood on the other side of the room. He wore earthy leathers and furs, secured with belts and straps that wound around his body. Behind him crouched a dark red dragon with bright orange eyes. On all fours, it was as tall as its human, and it was steadily growing bigger.

Rupert scampered to the dragonmaster, reaching his ally and regaining his regal composure. “Kill them both,” he said. “They’re better dead than living.”

* * *

When Audeen finally came to, she was first aware of a sharp pain in her head, and a distant ringing in her ears. She didn’t dare open her eyes for fear of overwhelming her senses.

What had happened? She remembered the dragon, Rupert, Theo, streaks of fire... She quickly sat up and opened her eyes. “Wisp!”

“I’m all right.” Two hands grabbed her shoulders and gently pulled her backwards.

She laid back against something warm. Looking up towards the ceiling, she saw the gentle eyes and smile of her Fieri companion.

“Wisp?” she asked, her voice hoarse and slurred. “What-”

“You were attacked by the dragon,” Wisp explained, his smile falling to betray his worry. “You hit a wall, which fell on top of you-”

“Where’s Theo-” Audeen started, sitting up again. She stopped when she heard the sound of chains scraping across stone.

“Lay down,” Wisp tried, gently pulling Audeen backwards, but she resisted the pull in favor of looking down at herself.

Her armor was lying in a corner, far out of her reach. Her wrists were shackled together with rusted iron cuffs and chained to the wall. Looking down at her arms, she saw a red spot growing on her left shoulder.

And then the pain registered.

She gritted her teeth, keeping back a cry and groaning instead. As her senses were overwhelmed again, she shut her eyes, trying to block everything out so that she could deal with the sharp fire that had erupted on her arm. She let Wisp pull her back into his lap, refusing to let out any more noise when his knee jostled her injured shoulder.

“Audeen,” he said, keeping his voice low. “It’s bad, but I don’t think won’t kill you. I- I’ve tried to bandage it. Just stay still so you won’t reopen it.”

Audeen opened her eyes and smiled (though she was pretty sure it turned into more of a grimace). “I’ve had worse,” she assured him. She winced as another wave of pain traveled through her shoulder. “Doesn’t seem to hurt any less though.” She lifted a hand and touched Wisp’s wrists, feeling metal locked around his arms as well.

“When you…" Wisp took a shuddering breath. “After you...hit the wall, I...I thought…" Wisp closed his eyes tightly as a few tears slid beneath his eyelids and down his cheeks.

Audeen wiped the tears away with her thumb and Wisp opened his eyes. “It’s all right, Wisp. I’m sure I’ll be fine now.”

Wisp nodded. “I...I know, but I still thought…" He took a deep breath and looked at a spot on a stone brick. "I ran over to see if you were okay, and I had to surrender. Otherwise, you might have gotten hurt further, and I...I couldn’t…" More tears were slipping down his jawline as he stared unseeingly at the wall beside them.

Audeen held one of Wisp’s hands in what she hoped was a comforting manner. “I’m going to be fine, Wisp. You're not going to let anything happen to me.”

“You’re the closest thing to family I have, Audeen,” Wisp said, voice barely above a whisper. “A-and I’ve only known you for little more than a week, but you put yourself in harm’s way and get hurt, and I-I…" His voice broke. He sniffled harshly, wiping his face with a thin arm. The chains rattled around the dungeon in response to the movement.

“All right,” Audeen said, trying to soothe her companion. "All right. I will be more careful from now on, okay? If I had known you would be so affected by me getting hurt, I should have let you stay behind at Ravensfield-”

“No!” Wisp yelled, eyes blown wide with fear. “No, no that’s- that’s not what I want. I just... I need to be stronger. So I can help protect you.”

Audeen squinted. “I have ten years of professional combat training-”

“Not against a dragon,” Wisp pointed out.

Audeen fell silent. Touché.

"I...I have a plan,” Wisp said, watching her almost cautiously. “It’s going to take a lot out of me, but... I have to do it. It’s the only way we can beat that dragon.”

“Just as I thought.” The new voice jerked their attention away from each other and over to the crooked door of the dilapidated cell, where a small light source was illuminating part of the hallway. At the center of that light source stood none other than Clover himself, leaning against the bars with his usual harrumph. “Making plans without me. Well, look at where that got you. This is just _even more_ proof that you’d be nowhere without me, Queen Bee.”

“Clover.” Audeen grinned. “Thought we might’ve stepped on you somewhere.”

“Do you want me to help you or no? I can just leave you here.” As usual, his bark was left without a bite. The sprite ran over to where the two were chained up, his hurried footsteps sounding like fast tapping against the stone floor.

He clambered onto Audeen’s arm, running up to where he could see her face. The beginnings of a smirk disappeared from his face when his eyes fell on her shoulder injury. “What the- Wisp! What happened!”

It wasn’t a question, but Wisp hurried to provide an answer, his eyes watering. “W-we found the dragon and the prince, but then there was a fight and he threw Audeen into the wall and there was fire-”

“But I’m going to be okay,” Audeen interrupted, hoping to stop Wisp from dissolving into hysterics. “It’s not even my fighting arm. I can still use my sword just fine."

“You kinda need the other arm for the shield, lady,” Clover quipped.

“I guess I just have to beat them before I need the shield,” Audeen said. “Stop focusing on my shoulder. We need to escape, and we need to rescue Theo. We don’t have the luxury of waiting for our situation to fix itself. Now, are you two going to help me or not?”

Clover and Wisp shared an uneasy look.


End file.
